Image: St. Paul Writing His Epistles, by Valentin de Bolougne, c. 1618.
Note:
I spoke in a Reformation Conference last weekend at Redeeming Grace Church in
Matthews, VA. The topic was the canon of Scripture. Here are some of my notes
from the opening conference message, noting the connection between canon and
inspiration.
The definition of canon is vitally
linked to the doctrine of inspiration. The classic prooftext for the doctrine
of inspiration is found in Paul’s second letter to Timothy:
2
Timothy 3:16: All scripture is given by inspiration of God [theopneustos], and is profitable for
doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness:
The books
that make up the canon of Christian Scripture are inspired books, God-breathed
books. This is the fundamental quality which they possess which distinguishes
them from all other uninspired writings, including those that might be spiritually
profitable. The
Scriptures are autopistos [self-authenticating], because they are
God-breathed.
Given this reality, it would be accurate to say that the
canon of Scripture was completed and became closed when the last inspired book
was written, perhaps the book of Revelation, around AD 90. This was the
culmination of a process that had begun some 1500 years before when Moses
composed the Pentateuch. It would also be appropriate to say that this canon
has existed since its completion, even in times when it has not been properly
recognized and acknowledged by God’s people.
It is sometimes said both by
skeptics and, interestingly enough, also within some Christian traditions
(Roman Catholicism and Eastern Orthodoxy) that the church chose the
Scriptures. We believe it is more
biblically faithful to say that the church did not choose the canon, but that
it acknowledged or recognized it for what it is in essence: the God-breathed,
inscripturated Word. In fact, it is also more historically reliable to take
this position as well, given that we must conclude that the recognition or
acknowledgement of the canon of Christian Scripture did not come about from the
top-down, through conciliar decisions, but from the bottom-up through the
organic usage of God’s people.
How is it that God’s people are able
to recognize these inspired, canonical books as the Word of God and to
distinguish them from uninspired works? It is a spiritual process that defies
any simple, naturalistic explanation. First, we acknowledge, again, that the
inspired Scriptures are breathed out by the Holy Spirit of God. As Peter puts
it, “For the prophecy came not in old time by the will of man: but holy men of
God spoke as they were moved by the
Holy Ghost” (2 Peter 1:21). Second, believers have been regenerated by this
same Holy Spirit who then indwells them (cf. Romans 8:8-11). Thus, Paul can
conclude, “Now if any man have not the Spirit of Christ, he is none of his”
(Romans 8:9). Positively, he can also affirm that the Spirit of God “beareth
witness” with the spirit of the believer (Romans 8:16).
How, then, is it that a believer
recognizes the Word of God? The Spirit of God which is in him resonates with
the Spirit of God which is in the Scriptures. This is the way Jesus himself
describes this phenomenon in John 10:27: “My sheep hear my voice, and I know
them, and they follow me.” Christians recognize in the inspired, canonical
Scriptures, the voice of their Shepherd.
Grace
and peace, Pastor Jeff Riddle
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